Kofi Annan, The Former United Nations Secretary-General, passes away at 80

Kofi Annan, a gentle and noble diplomat from Ghana, who was the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations died today and he was 80 years old. His death was declared by the Kofi Annan Foundation on Twitter. Annan died in hospital in Bern, Switzerland, in the wee hours of Saturday, two close associates of Annan confirmed.

Annan Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 as well as he was the first black African to head the United Nations for two successive five-year terms beginning in 1997 to 2006. He served in a decade of turmoil in United Nations that challenged and redefined its place in a changing modern world.

He was honoured with revitalizing UN’s its institutions, crafting what he named as new “norm of humanitarian intervention,” particularly holding peace in places where there was no peace for traditional peacemakers to keep.

His tenure and his stature were often compared to Dag Hammarskjold, the second secretary-general, who died in a mysterious plane crash in Africa in 1961.

His foundation praised him on Twitter as “a global statesman and a deeply committed internationalist who fought throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world” and called him “an ardent champion of peace, sustainable development, human rights and the rule of law.”

During his tenure, Annan presided over some of the worst failures, scandals and ups and downs the UN had witnessed and which is called one of its stormy periods since its foundation g in 1945.

Kofi Annan was the chief architect of the Millennium Development Goals and played a key role in creating the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the U.N.'s first counter-terrorism strategy. He remained a vocal commentator on a crisis like the refugee crisis; admonished good governance, anti-corruption measures and sustainable agriculture in Africa; and never-ending efforts to counter against illegal drug trafficking.

Kofi Annan was born in April 1938 in the city of Kumasi in what was then Gold Coast in Ghana in a wealthy family.

https://twitter.com/KofiAnnanFdn/status/1030752729818451968